Is your super on target?

ASIC
(MoneySmart)

Got enough super?

No matter how old you are or how much money you earn, now is the time to build your super. Use the retirement planner to work out what your retirement income could be and the small changes you can make to build your super.

• Use the retirement planner
• How much super will you need?
• Boost your super savings
• Protecting your super changes
• Get financial advice

Use the retirement planner

The retirement planner shows you:

• your estimated super at retirement
• your yearly retirement income
• how fees, investment options and contributions affect your retirement income.

The retirement planner will help you test out different scenarios and work out how to grow and add to your super.

How much super will you need?

How much super you need will depend on:

• the lifestyle you want in retirement - According to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) a comfortable lifestyle for a couple costs about $60,000 a year and a modest lifestyle costs about $40,000 a year.
• how long you're likely to live - People are generally living longer than previous generations. Retirees can expect to live well into their eighties and this means if you stop working at 65, you're likely to need retirement income for at least 20 years or more. Visit the My Longevity website to explore your life expectancy.
• your big costs in retirement - Are you planning any major spending after retiring? For example, you do you want to pay off your mortgage, renovate your home, or travel? The more money you spend early in retirement, the less you'll have to live on later.

Boost your super savings

If you want to boost your retirement income you can:

• consolidate your super into one account
• increase your super contributions
• put your money into a less conservative investment option (but get financial advice before you do this)
• work part-time before retiring
• think about a more modest lifestyle in retirement.

Protecting your super changes

From 1 July 2019, new arrangements to protect your super balance from erosion by inappropriate insurance and fees will apply:

• cancellation of insurance: super funds will cancel insurance on accounts that haven't received contributions for at least 16 months. Your fund will contact you if your insurance is about to end. If you want to keep the insurance through your super, you must tell your super fund or make a contribution to that account. You may want to keep your insurance if you don't have any through another fund or insurer and you have a particular need for it (e.g. you have children or other dependants or work in a high-risk job).
• no exit fees: there are no exit fees if you leave your super fund.
• fee limit on low-balance accounts: annual administration and investment fees can't exceed 3% of the balance of accounts with less than $6,000. Your account balance is calculated at the end of the fund year.
• inactive account transfers to ATO: accounts with less than $6,000 that are inactive for 16 months will be transferred to the ATO. The ATO will merge it with your other active super account. If you don't have another active account, the ATO will keep your super safe.

Get financial advice

Planning for your retirement is complex and it's important to get advice from people with specialist knowledge. See financial advice for more information on how you can maximise your retirement savings.

It's never too early to start thinking about your super. Take steps now to get the retirement lifestyle you want.